Hakkında Ashoka United States

Ashoka United States was launched in 2001 when we began supporting social entrepreneurs in the U.S. as Ashoka Fellows. To date we have supported more than 230 men and women with creative new approaches for solving social problems and connected them into a dynamic peer network to help them grow their ideas and impact.

Social entrepreneurs play a central part in Ashoka’s mission to build an ‘Everyone A Changemaker’ world, in part because they create roles for so many others to be problem solvers for the good of all. But they can’t do so alone. Over the last decade, our work has expanded in new directions with a particular focus on changing how young people grow up so they gain the skills and practice they need to step into the world as changemakers themselves.

Today we work to ensure that every child masters empathy through our Start Empathy initiative, which includes a growing network of Changemaker Schools. Via Youth Venture we reach teens and the organizations that serve them to encourage young changemaking. Ashoka U, meanwhile, has set the standard at the university level for what it means to incorporate social innovation into the culture and curriculum of higher education. And Changemakers.com continues to be a platform for changemakers of all kinds to come together in service of social progress, most notably via its online competitions.

All of this work supports our central aim: to shape a country where problems no longer outrun solutions, and where each one of us feels empowered to drive positive change in ways big and small.

U.S. FELLOWS

We think of our Fellows as practical visionaries—practical in that they are highly attentive to the nuts and bolts of making things work, and visionary in that they often reframe the problem in the first place and cast a long-term view for change. They apply creativity and empathy in solving social problems, and they highlight the importance of systems thinking to get at the root of those problems.

The Ashoka Fellows in the United States work at the leading edge of the most significant social and economic problems of our time—increasing access to quality education and healthcare, introducing solutions to mass incarceration, facilitating economic development on American Indian land, improving mental health resources for returning veterans, and even designing new methods of carbon-trapping ocean farming that nourish us while restoring our waters and combatting climate change. To learn more about these entrepreneurs in the U.S. and around the globe, check out our searchable network map.

Unfortunately, too much of this map is polarized in a handful of coastal U.S. cities—a problem that afflicts not just Ashoka but the entire field of social entrepreneurship, which risks becoming insular and disconnected from the majority of Americans.

To address this problem we launched the All America initiative in 2016, a public commitment to redrawing the map of social entrepreneurship in the United States so that it will better reflect the rich ethnic, racial, gender and geographic diversity of the country.

We want to find and supporting leading changemakers across the entire country—form Detroit to Dallas, from the ranches in the Mountain West to the Deep South, from within and across all ethnic groups—and with them shape more innovative, resilient communities everywhere. Our goal is to ensure that a culture of changemaking takes root far and wide—across all America.

Our "All America" Manifesto

We believe changemakers are everywhere, representing all races, classes, religions, and geographical areas.

We believe that all of us will someday be called upon to be changemakers to make positive change for our families, for our communities, and for the good of all.

We believe that social entrepreneurs are champions of new ways of tackling societal challenges and transforming whole systems.

We believe they are powerful forces for good and their presence makes us all more effective agents of change.

We believe that social entrepreneurs are everywhere, but that the social entrepreneurship sector has gravitated around a few coastal cities which limits its relevance and impact.

We believe this clustering is at least in part a result of internalized biases by networks like Ashoka.

We believe a more diverse sector will be better equipped to spot and uncover solutions to problems that are too often overlooked.

We believe it is our responsibility to reach out so that the best ideas can flow in and out of all of America.

We believe that together we can shape a more dynamic, resilient country where problems no longer outrun solutions.

Ashoka Fellow Nick Tilsen of the Thunder Valley Community Development Center on Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, South Dakota

Our Programs

Since Ashoka’s founding in 1981, Venture & Fellowship has been the core of our work, developed and refined to identify leading social entrepreneurs with transformative ideas and provide them with the support and community they need to thrive. Ashoka’s role is to bet on these entrepreneurs at a key time in their trajectory when minimal resources have maximal leverage. In this way, year after year, we seed ideas that represent potentially groundbreaking paths forward for society. In the process we collect insights and spot patterns that guide the rest of our work and that enable our partners—and society at large—see with more clarity the direction the world is moving.

Many of the 230 U.S. Ashoka Fellows who have come through this process have gone on to get to get second and third-tier growth investments from major foundations and philanthropists as they scale nationally.

Our Fellows are:

Building entirely new fields­—like Participatory Defense—to give communities most affected by mass incarceration the avenues to influence the court process and case outcomes;

Drafting legislation and changing policy at the state level—like the groundbreaking Domestic Worker’s Bill of Rights in New York and California—and at the federal level too, as Paul Reickhoff and his Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America were instrumental in the US Senate’s unanimous passing of the Clay Hunt Bill in 2015 to provide better help for veterans with serious mental health issues;

Enabling millions to access critical benefits: Jennifer Pahlka’s Code for America used mobile technology to reduce the application time for California’s CalFresh nutrition program from 45 to 8 minutes;

Shaping a more welcoming country via David Lubell’s Welcoming America, which reduces the barriers that immigrants face to fully participating and builds bridges between newcomers and long-time residents;

... and much more!

I have been constantly blown away by the generosity and vision of Ashoka. They have been unmatched as a thought partner, helping me and my organization to see connections in our work that transcend geographic boundaries and the usual discipline silos. And they have been unparalleled as a connector. My own experience as an Ashoka Fellow has been nothing short of transformational.

Start Empathy is an initiative of Ashoka U.S. that launched in 2012 as a community of individuals and institutions dedicated to building a future in which every child masters empathy.

Despite how fast the world is changing, most of our educational priorities have remained the same. Only a handful of children are consistently provided with the learning environments and opportunities to develop into empathetic changemakers. We must shift this pattern. Ashoka’s Start Empathy Initiative expands and leverages Ashoka’s network of social entrepreneurs to drive a movement that makes empathy a priority skill for all children. We seek to accelerate society to a tipping point where this idea becomes inevitable because a new framework has taken hold.

A key strategy for doing so is working with our growing network of Changemaker Schools across the country. These schools are living models of transformative approaches to education and showcase an incredible range of how-tos that any educator can learn from in her efforts to bring empathy and changemaking more fully inside school walls. With them we are moving closer to a world where all young people have the skills and confidence to change the world for the good of all.

Over the last 20 years, Ashoka’s Youth Venture (YV) Initiative has supported more than 18,000 teams to practice changemaking through its “Dream it, Do It Challenge” methodology, which takes a young person through the process of dreaming, developing, launching and sharing a youth-led social venture. Worldwide, YV has impacted 360,000 young people in more than 50 countries.

In the United States, YV has worked with about 4,000 teams of young changemakers to launch ventures in all 50 states, with major hubs in St. Louis, Seattle, Washington D.C., New York City, Boston, Silicon Valley, Concord (N.H.), North Central Massachusetts, San Francisco, Miami, and Minneapolis.

Our mission is to cultivate an ecosystem that values and supports young people to be changemakers by:

Investing in young people to have the transformative experience of launching and leading their own lasting ventures.

Creating a critical mass of young people who collectively redefine the youth years as a time of positive contribution.

Spreading our message that investing in young people to become changemakers is the key factor for success in every part of society; and

Ashoka U collaborates with colleges and universities to break down barriers to institutional change and foster a campus-wide culture of social innovation. Ashoka U empowers emerging leaders with the freedom, confidence, and support to address social problems and drive change. The initiative connects these Changemakers with other students, faculty, administrators, and community leaders to share inspiration, ideas, and resources.

Presently, we have 27 Changemaker Campuses in the United States.

Ashoka U also produces The Commons a virtual, semester-long accelerator for cohorts of institutions that are working on specific building blocks of social innovation education. Participants draw on Ashoka U’s experience working with more than 250 higher education institutions globally.

Ashoka U Exchange, a three-day annual event in the United States with hundreds of higher education innovators who are reimagining how to utilize colleges and universities as platforms to catalyze long-term change and social impact. Here, inspiration is sparked and deep connections are formed with peers who share a passion for higher education and who are devoted to advancing key conversations in the field.

The Ashoka Support Network (ASN) is a community of successful leaders in their own fields based in the US helping Ashoka US build to an everyone a changemaker world. The ASN the US supports our 200+ Fellows working across the country, as well as our work with changemaker schools and universities.

Once I began to meet with Fellows and experience their passion and dedication, it became an easy task for me to get more involved and contribute in any way that I could to help their work. What I tell to other ASN members that I’ve recruited is that there are so many opportunities to make a contribution to people who are on the cutting edge of social entrepreneurship. That is what drives me, and I invite them to join me in that pursuit."

- Jose de la Torre, US ASN member

“If you only have a few hours to provide to philanthropic endeavors, this is going to be the highest return you will ever get on those few hours”

Changemakers builds the foundation for Ashoka's vision of an Everyone a Changemaker world by activating a global network of social entrepreneurs, innovators, business leaders, policy-makers, and activists in more than 100 countries.

Using a three-step process—frame, convene and ignite—Changemakers works with other Ashoka teams and its global network and partners to build open competitions that celebrate the best ideas and exponentially accelerate social change. Changemakers also delivers ground-breaking analysis in the form of social innovation mapping reports and creates long-term partnerships with corporations and organizations to drive the movement forward.

In the US, Changemakers has produced about 100 successful challenges with companies like GE, Google, Rockefeller Foundation, Intel, Unilever and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Staff

Konstanze Frischen

Konstanze leads Ashoka in North America and is a member of the Global Leadership Group. She founded Ashoka in her native Germany in 2003, convinced that social entrepreneurship was needed in Western Europe. Thus, she introduced a radically new concept of social innovation and with her colleagues built up the most powerful network of innovators across the continent. She also co-founded the Globalizer, an initiative re-defining what we mean by scale. She became Ashoka Europe’s director in 2011, before moving to the US in early 2015. Konstanze is a social anthropologist with a degree from the LSE, and has lived in Germany, the UK, and Costa Rica. She worked for CNN and was a tenured writer for Germany’s quality broadsheet FAZ, as well as a member of the team that launched the Sunday paper FAS to large public acclaim, winning the European Newspaper Award. Until her departure to the US, she was a board member of GLS Bank, Germany’s leading credit union committed to sustainability.

Konstanze Frischen

Konstanze leads Ashoka in North America and is a member of the Global Leadership Group. She founded Ashoka in her native Germany in 2003, convinced that social entrepreneurship was needed in Western Europe. Thus, she introduced a radically new concept of social innovation and with her colleagues built up the most powerful network of innovators across the continent. She also co-founded the Globalizer, an initiative re-defining what we mean by scale. She became Ashoka Europe’s director in 2011, before moving to the US in early 2015. Konstanze is a social anthropologist with a degree from the LSE, and has lived in Germany, the UK, and Costa Rica. She worked for CNN and was a tenured writer for Germany’s quality broadsheet FAZ, as well as a member of the team that launched the Sunday paper FAS to large public acclaim, winning the European Newspaper Award. Until her departure to the US, she was a board member of GLS Bank, Germany’s leading credit union committed to sustainability.

Konstanze Frischen

Konstanze leads Ashoka in North America and is a member of the Global Leadership Group. She founded Ashoka in her native Germany in 2003, convinced that social entrepreneurship was needed in Western Europe. Thus, she introduced a radically new concept of social innovation and with her colleagues built up the most powerful network of innovators across the continent. She also co-founded the Globalizer, an initiative re-defining what we mean by scale. She became Ashoka Europe’s director in 2011, before moving to the US in early 2015. Konstanze is a social anthropologist with a degree from the LSE, and has lived in Germany, the UK, and Costa Rica. She worked for CNN and was a tenured writer for Germany’s quality broadsheet FAZ, as well as a member of the team that launched the Sunday paper FAS to large public acclaim, winning the European Newspaper Award. Until her departure to the US, she was a board member of GLS Bank, Germany’s leading credit union committed to sustainability.

Konstanze leads Ashoka in North America and is a member of the Global Leadership Group. She founded Ashoka in her native Germany in 2003, convinced that social entrepreneurship was needed in Western Europe. Thus, she introduced a radically new concept of social innovation and with her colleagues built up the most powerful network of innovators across the continent. She also co-founded the Globalizer, an initiative re-defining what we mean by scale. She became Ashoka Europe’s director in 2011, before moving to the US in early 2015. Konstanze is a social anthropologist with a degree from the LSE, and has lived in Germany, the UK, and Costa Rica. She worked for CNN and was a tenured writer for Germany’s quality broadsheet FAZ, as well as a member of the team that launched the Sunday paper FAS to large public acclaim, winning the European Newspaper Award. Until her departure to the US, she was a board member of GLS Bank, Germany’s leading credit union committed to sustainability.

Maria Paula Recart

Paula Recart is part of the Leadership Group at Ashoka, the most senior level in the organization. She is North America Partnerships Leader and has served as Ashoka US Director in the past. She joined Ashoka in 2007 after 15 years in the media industry in Chile, where she was Editor-in-Chief of the magazine with the largest circulation in the country. During her 9 years of tenure, she led the magazine to one of the top positions in readership and sales, and she oversaw six additional new magazines. Prior to that, she was part of the founding team of a broadcasting project –Rock&PopTV- that is still considered one of the most creative endeavors in Chilean media. At Ashoka, Paula has started new Global initiatives like Start Empathy, led some of the biggest partnerships, and added value in strategy, communications, management, fundraising and marketing.

Maria Paula Recart

Paula Recart is part of the Leadership Group at Ashoka, the most senior level in the organization. She is North America Partnerships Leader and has served as Ashoka US Director in the past. She joined Ashoka in 2007 after 15 years in the media industry in Chile, where she was Editor-in-Chief of the magazine with the largest circulation in the country. During her 9 years of tenure, she led the magazine to one of the top positions in readership and sales, and she oversaw six additional new magazines. Prior to that, she was part of the founding team of a broadcasting project –Rock&PopTV- that is still considered one of the most creative endeavors in Chilean media. At Ashoka, Paula has started new Global initiatives like Start Empathy, led some of the biggest partnerships, and added value in strategy, communications, management, fundraising and marketing.

Maria Paula Recart

Paula Recart is part of the Leadership Group at Ashoka, the most senior level in the organization. She is North America Partnerships Leader and has served as Ashoka US Director in the past. She joined Ashoka in 2007 after 15 years in the media industry in Chile, where she was Editor-in-Chief of the magazine with the largest circulation in the country. During her 9 years of tenure, she led the magazine to one of the top positions in readership and sales, and she oversaw six additional new magazines. Prior to that, she was part of the founding team of a broadcasting project –Rock&PopTV- that is still considered one of the most creative endeavors in Chilean media. At Ashoka, Paula has started new Global initiatives like Start Empathy, led some of the biggest partnerships, and added value in strategy, communications, management, fundraising and marketing.

Paula Recart is part of the Leadership Group at Ashoka, the most senior level in the organization. She is North America Partnerships Leader and has served as Ashoka US Director in the past. She joined Ashoka in 2007 after 15 years in the media industry in Chile, where she was Editor-in-Chief of the magazine with the largest circulation in the country. During her 9 years of tenure, she led the magazine to one of the top positions in readership and sales, and she oversaw six additional new magazines. Prior to that, she was part of the founding team of a broadcasting project –Rock&PopTV- that is still considered one of the most creative endeavors in Chilean media. At Ashoka, Paula has started new Global initiatives like Start Empathy, led some of the biggest partnerships, and added value in strategy, communications, management, fundraising and marketing.

Simon Stumpf

Simon is the Director of Venture and Fellowship for Ashoka in the United States. In this role he helps identify and support Ashoka's annual class of systems-changing Fellows in the U.S. Prior to joining the U.S. team in 2014, Simon led Ashoka's programs in East Africa for four years and, before that, coordinated a global collaboration of over 100 leading social entrepreneurs focused on rural innovation and farming in Africa and South Asia. Simon lives and works in Viroqua, Wisconsin where he helps lead the Driftless Folk School, collaborates with the Youth Initiative High School (an Ashoka Changemaker School), grows food, rides his bike, and reads books about dinosaurs to his kids.

Simon Stumpf

Simon is the Director of Venture and Fellowship for Ashoka in the United States. In this role he helps identify and support Ashoka's annual class of systems-changing Fellows in the U.S. Prior to joining the U.S. team in 2014, Simon led Ashoka's programs in East Africa for four years and, before that, coordinated a global collaboration of over 100 leading social entrepreneurs focused on rural innovation and farming in Africa and South Asia. Simon lives and works in Viroqua, Wisconsin where he helps lead the Driftless Folk School, collaborates with the Youth Initiative High School (an Ashoka Changemaker School), grows food, rides his bike, and reads books about dinosaurs to his kids.

Simon Stumpf

Simon is the Director of Venture and Fellowship for Ashoka in the United States. In this role he helps identify and support Ashoka's annual class of systems-changing Fellows in the U.S. Prior to joining the U.S. team in 2014, Simon led Ashoka's programs in East Africa for four years and, before that, coordinated a global collaboration of over 100 leading social entrepreneurs focused on rural innovation and farming in Africa and South Asia. Simon lives and works in Viroqua, Wisconsin where he helps lead the Driftless Folk School, collaborates with the Youth Initiative High School (an Ashoka Changemaker School), grows food, rides his bike, and reads books about dinosaurs to his kids.

Simon is the Director of Venture and Fellowship for Ashoka in the United States. In this role he helps identify and support Ashoka's annual class of systems-changing Fellows in the U.S. Prior to joining the U.S. team in 2014, Simon led Ashoka's programs in East Africa for four years and, before that, coordinated a global collaboration of over 100 leading social entrepreneurs focused on rural innovation and farming in Africa and South Asia. Simon lives and works in Viroqua, Wisconsin where he helps lead the Driftless Folk School, collaborates with the Youth Initiative High School (an Ashoka Changemaker School), grows food, rides his bike, and reads books about dinosaurs to his kids.

Lorena Garcia Duran

Lorena is the Director for the Ashoka Support Network in the US. She joined the Ashoka team in Mexico and Central America in 2008. While in Mexico she co-lead the largest philanthropic effort in the country named “Iniciativa Mexico”. This brought together for the first time in Mexico´s history major communication corporations to invest the largest economic figure into the social sector. In 2009 she launched Ashoka efforts in Miami making it one of the hubs of Ashoka´s efforts. To date Miami hosts the largest community of ASN members in the US, two Changemaker Campus and has become a strategic spot for Ashoka Fellows from all over the world. Before joining Ashoka, Lorena worked in the private sector as an Executive Director for an international textile company. She has a degree in Audiovisual Communications at the Universidad Pontificia de Salamanca, Spain. She also studied French at La Sorbonne in Paris, France and has lived in four different countries since she turned eighteen.

Lorena Garcia Duran

Lorena is the Director for the Ashoka Support Network in the US. She joined the Ashoka team in Mexico and Central America in 2008. While in Mexico she co-lead the largest philanthropic effort in the country named “Iniciativa Mexico”. This brought together for the first time in Mexico´s history major communication corporations to invest the largest economic figure into the social sector. In 2009 she launched Ashoka efforts in Miami making it one of the hubs of Ashoka´s efforts. To date Miami hosts the largest community of ASN members in the US, two Changemaker Campus and has become a strategic spot for Ashoka Fellows from all over the world. Before joining Ashoka, Lorena worked in the private sector as an Executive Director for an international textile company. She has a degree in Audiovisual Communications at the Universidad Pontificia de Salamanca, Spain. She also studied French at La Sorbonne in Paris, France and has lived in four different countries since she turned eighteen.

Lorena Garcia Duran

Lorena is the Director for the Ashoka Support Network in the US. She joined the Ashoka team in Mexico and Central America in 2008. While in Mexico she co-lead the largest philanthropic effort in the country named “Iniciativa Mexico”. This brought together for the first time in Mexico´s history major communication corporations to invest the largest economic figure into the social sector. In 2009 she launched Ashoka efforts in Miami making it one of the hubs of Ashoka´s efforts. To date Miami hosts the largest community of ASN members in the US, two Changemaker Campus and has become a strategic spot for Ashoka Fellows from all over the world. Before joining Ashoka, Lorena worked in the private sector as an Executive Director for an international textile company. She has a degree in Audiovisual Communications at the Universidad Pontificia de Salamanca, Spain. She also studied French at La Sorbonne in Paris, France and has lived in four different countries since she turned eighteen.

Lorena is the Director for the Ashoka Support Network in the US. She joined the Ashoka team in Mexico and Central America in 2008. While in Mexico she co-lead the largest philanthropic effort in the country named “Iniciativa Mexico”. This brought together for the first time in Mexico´s history major communication corporations to invest the largest economic figure into the social sector. In 2009 she launched Ashoka efforts in Miami making it one of the hubs of Ashoka´s efforts. To date Miami hosts the largest community of ASN members in the US, two Changemaker Campus and has become a strategic spot for Ashoka Fellows from all over the world. Before joining Ashoka, Lorena worked in the private sector as an Executive Director for an international textile company. She has a degree in Audiovisual Communications at the Universidad Pontificia de Salamanca, Spain. She also studied French at La Sorbonne in Paris, France and has lived in four different countries since she turned eighteen.

Michael D Zakaras

Michael Zakaras is Director of Strategy & Partnerships at Ashoka U.S. He is also co-founder of Ashoka’s ‘All America’ initiative which focuses on pushing the boundaries of social entrepreneurship beyond the traditional coastal circles. Michael has previously worked for Ashoka in Ireland and Central Europe, and has participated on selection panels for social entrepreneurs across the globe, from Montreal to Warsaw to Istanbul. He has a particular interest in food and agriculture policy, criminal justice reform, and more democratic economic models, and writes regularly about these issues and more on Forbes online. He grew up in Brussels, has worked in the California wine industry, and holds a Master's in Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.

Michael D Zakaras

Michael Zakaras is Director of Strategy & Partnerships at Ashoka U.S. He is also co-founder of Ashoka’s ‘All America’ initiative which focuses on pushing the boundaries of social entrepreneurship beyond the traditional coastal circles. Michael has previously worked for Ashoka in Ireland and Central Europe, and has participated on selection panels for social entrepreneurs across the globe, from Montreal to Warsaw to Istanbul. He has a particular interest in food and agriculture policy, criminal justice reform, and more democratic economic models, and writes regularly about these issues and more on Forbes online. He grew up in Brussels, has worked in the California wine industry, and holds a Master's in Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.

Michael D Zakaras

Michael Zakaras is Director of Strategy & Partnerships at Ashoka U.S. He is also co-founder of Ashoka’s ‘All America’ initiative which focuses on pushing the boundaries of social entrepreneurship beyond the traditional coastal circles. Michael has previously worked for Ashoka in Ireland and Central Europe, and has participated on selection panels for social entrepreneurs across the globe, from Montreal to Warsaw to Istanbul. He has a particular interest in food and agriculture policy, criminal justice reform, and more democratic economic models, and writes regularly about these issues and more on Forbes online. He grew up in Brussels, has worked in the California wine industry, and holds a Master's in Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.

Michael Zakaras is Director of Strategy & Partnerships at Ashoka U.S. He is also co-founder of Ashoka’s ‘All America’ initiative which focuses on pushing the boundaries of social entrepreneurship beyond the traditional coastal circles. Michael has previously worked for Ashoka in Ireland and Central Europe, and has participated on selection panels for social entrepreneurs across the globe, from Montreal to Warsaw to Istanbul. He has a particular interest in food and agriculture policy, criminal justice reform, and more democratic economic models, and writes regularly about these issues and more on Forbes online. He grew up in Brussels, has worked in the California wine industry, and holds a Master's in Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.

Brittany Koteles

Brittany is the U.S. Fellowship manager. She designs tools, experiences, and opportunities for the community of 200+ Ashoka Fellows based in the U.S. Before coming to Ashoka, she spent three years building out the social innovation ecosystem in Barcelona - including adventures in research, writing, teaching, and start-up-ing. She also has two years of experience working leaders in higher education through the Ashoka U program. Brittany is active in the Washington DC community as an improviser, activist, and dabbling filmmaker. She holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Brittany Koteles

Brittany is the U.S. Fellowship manager. She designs tools, experiences, and opportunities for the community of 200+ Ashoka Fellows based in the U.S. Before coming to Ashoka, she spent three years building out the social innovation ecosystem in Barcelona - including adventures in research, writing, teaching, and start-up-ing. She also has two years of experience working leaders in higher education through the Ashoka U program. Brittany is active in the Washington DC community as an improviser, activist, and dabbling filmmaker. She holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Brittany Koteles

Brittany is the U.S. Fellowship manager. She designs tools, experiences, and opportunities for the community of 200+ Ashoka Fellows based in the U.S. Before coming to Ashoka, she spent three years building out the social innovation ecosystem in Barcelona - including adventures in research, writing, teaching, and start-up-ing. She also has two years of experience working leaders in higher education through the Ashoka U program. Brittany is active in the Washington DC community as an improviser, activist, and dabbling filmmaker. She holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Brittany is the U.S. Fellowship manager. She designs tools, experiences, and opportunities for the community of 200+ Ashoka Fellows based in the U.S. Before coming to Ashoka, she spent three years building out the social innovation ecosystem in Barcelona - including adventures in research, writing, teaching, and start-up-ing. She also has two years of experience working leaders in higher education through the Ashoka U program. Brittany is active in the Washington DC community as an improviser, activist, and dabbling filmmaker. She holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Romina Laouri

Romina is the Chief Innovations Officer on the Empathy team. She works on strengthening the network of Changemaker Schools & partners. She joined Ashoka in 2005 working with Youth Venture (YV) to create a strong global movement of young changemakers around the world. Among her many roles at Ashoka she has helped launch & expand YV in Europe and Latin America, has led social media strategies, developed the Youth Summits, and has led multiple media partnerships and campaigns. More recently she launched the Changemaker School Summit and co-authored a book, Changemakers: Educating with Purpose.
She has a BA from Macalester College and holds an MA in Int’l Relations from the University of Chicago. She is a co-founder of a youth group that promotes youth participation in Cyprus. She has organized & hosted TEDxYSE and TEDxAshokaU. She lives with her family in Washington, DC.

Romina Laouri

Romina is the Chief Innovations Officer on the Empathy team. She works on strengthening the network of Changemaker Schools & partners. She joined Ashoka in 2005 working with Youth Venture (YV) to create a strong global movement of young changemakers around the world. Among her many roles at Ashoka she has helped launch & expand YV in Europe and Latin America, has led social media strategies, developed the Youth Summits, and has led multiple media partnerships and campaigns. More recently she launched the Changemaker School Summit and co-authored a book, Changemakers: Educating with Purpose.
She has a BA from Macalester College and holds an MA in Int’l Relations from the University of Chicago. She is a co-founder of a youth group that promotes youth participation in Cyprus. She has organized & hosted TEDxYSE and TEDxAshokaU. She lives with her family in Washington, DC.

Romina Laouri

Romina is the Chief Innovations Officer on the Empathy team. She works on strengthening the network of Changemaker Schools & partners. She joined Ashoka in 2005 working with Youth Venture (YV) to create a strong global movement of young changemakers around the world. Among her many roles at Ashoka she has helped launch & expand YV in Europe and Latin America, has led social media strategies, developed the Youth Summits, and has led multiple media partnerships and campaigns. More recently she launched the Changemaker School Summit and co-authored a book, Changemakers: Educating with Purpose.
She has a BA from Macalester College and holds an MA in Int’l Relations from the University of Chicago. She is a co-founder of a youth group that promotes youth participation in Cyprus. She has organized & hosted TEDxYSE and TEDxAshokaU. She lives with her family in Washington, DC.

Romina is the Chief Innovations Officer on the Empathy team. She works on strengthening the network of Changemaker Schools & partners. She joined Ashoka in 2005 working with Youth Venture (YV) to create a strong global movement of young changemakers around the world. Among her many roles at Ashoka she has helped launch & expand YV in Europe and Latin America, has led social media strategies, developed the Youth Summits, and has led multiple media partnerships and campaigns. More recently she launched the Changemaker School Summit and co-authored a book, Changemakers: Educating with Purpose.
She has a BA from Macalester College and holds an MA in Int’l Relations from the University of Chicago. She is a co-founder of a youth group that promotes youth participation in Cyprus. She has organized & hosted TEDxYSE and TEDxAshokaU. She lives with her family in Washington, DC.

Annie Plotkin

Annie joined Ashoka U.S. right after graduating from the University of Virginia in 2016, where she majored in Political and Social Thought. She was a Global Citizen Year Fellow from 2011-2012, when she traveled to Northeastern Brazil and worked in a government crisis center and her host family's snack stand. Since then, she has worked on issues of racial and environmental justice, women's rights, and educational equity for minority students in Washington D.C.
As our Community Engagement Manager, Annie works on bringing together members of the Ashoka network to catalyze meaningful, nurturing, and fun relationships through events, communications, and facilitating connections. She is a co-creator of Ashoka Huddles, DMV native, and chief morale officer at our global offices in Arlington.

Annie Plotkin

Annie joined Ashoka U.S. right after graduating from the University of Virginia in 2016, where she majored in Political and Social Thought. She was a Global Citizen Year Fellow from 2011-2012, when she traveled to Northeastern Brazil and worked in a government crisis center and her host family's snack stand. Since then, she has worked on issues of racial and environmental justice, women's rights, and educational equity for minority students in Washington D.C.
As our Community Engagement Manager, Annie works on bringing together members of the Ashoka network to catalyze meaningful, nurturing, and fun relationships through events, communications, and facilitating connections. She is a co-creator of Ashoka Huddles, DMV native, and chief morale officer at our global offices in Arlington.

Annie Plotkin

Annie joined Ashoka U.S. right after graduating from the University of Virginia in 2016, where she majored in Political and Social Thought. She was a Global Citizen Year Fellow from 2011-2012, when she traveled to Northeastern Brazil and worked in a government crisis center and her host family's snack stand. Since then, she has worked on issues of racial and environmental justice, women's rights, and educational equity for minority students in Washington D.C.
As our Community Engagement Manager, Annie works on bringing together members of the Ashoka network to catalyze meaningful, nurturing, and fun relationships through events, communications, and facilitating connections. She is a co-creator of Ashoka Huddles, DMV native, and chief morale officer at our global offices in Arlington.

Annie joined Ashoka U.S. right after graduating from the University of Virginia in 2016, where she majored in Political and Social Thought. She was a Global Citizen Year Fellow from 2011-2012, when she traveled to Northeastern Brazil and worked in a government crisis center and her host family's snack stand. Since then, she has worked on issues of racial and environmental justice, women's rights, and educational equity for minority students in Washington D.C.
As our Community Engagement Manager, Annie works on bringing together members of the Ashoka network to catalyze meaningful, nurturing, and fun relationships through events, communications, and facilitating connections. She is a co-creator of Ashoka Huddles, DMV native, and chief morale officer at our global offices in Arlington.

Timothy S Scheu

Tim is a Tampa, FL-based Director for Ashoka Changemakers. During his tenure, he has led day-to-day delivery of our Start Empathy, Re-imagine Learning, and Children's Wellbeing engagements, among others. Prior to arriving in Arlington, he served as Innovation Manager for International Bridges to Justice, where he conceptualized and managed collaborative competitions specific to the human rights sector. From 2001 to 2005, Tim served as Communications Manager for GlobalGiving, where he helped launch, publicize, and populate an online marketplace for international philanthropy. He has also worked as a Farber Intern for REDF, a leader for Overland’s rocky mountain service and backpacking summer program, and a consultant for AES Sonel investigating rural electrification opportunities in Cameroon. Tim has BAs in English Lit and Poli Sci from Bucknell University and an MBA from Duke University, where he was a CASE Social Sector Scholar.

Timothy S Scheu

Tim is a Tampa, FL-based Director for Ashoka Changemakers. During his tenure, he has led day-to-day delivery of our Start Empathy, Re-imagine Learning, and Children's Wellbeing engagements, among others. Prior to arriving in Arlington, he served as Innovation Manager for International Bridges to Justice, where he conceptualized and managed collaborative competitions specific to the human rights sector. From 2001 to 2005, Tim served as Communications Manager for GlobalGiving, where he helped launch, publicize, and populate an online marketplace for international philanthropy. He has also worked as a Farber Intern for REDF, a leader for Overland’s rocky mountain service and backpacking summer program, and a consultant for AES Sonel investigating rural electrification opportunities in Cameroon. Tim has BAs in English Lit and Poli Sci from Bucknell University and an MBA from Duke University, where he was a CASE Social Sector Scholar.

Timothy S Scheu

Tim is a Tampa, FL-based Director for Ashoka Changemakers. During his tenure, he has led day-to-day delivery of our Start Empathy, Re-imagine Learning, and Children's Wellbeing engagements, among others. Prior to arriving in Arlington, he served as Innovation Manager for International Bridges to Justice, where he conceptualized and managed collaborative competitions specific to the human rights sector. From 2001 to 2005, Tim served as Communications Manager for GlobalGiving, where he helped launch, publicize, and populate an online marketplace for international philanthropy. He has also worked as a Farber Intern for REDF, a leader for Overland’s rocky mountain service and backpacking summer program, and a consultant for AES Sonel investigating rural electrification opportunities in Cameroon. Tim has BAs in English Lit and Poli Sci from Bucknell University and an MBA from Duke University, where he was a CASE Social Sector Scholar.

Tim is a Tampa, FL-based Director for Ashoka Changemakers. During his tenure, he has led day-to-day delivery of our Start Empathy, Re-imagine Learning, and Children's Wellbeing engagements, among others. Prior to arriving in Arlington, he served as Innovation Manager for International Bridges to Justice, where he conceptualized and managed collaborative competitions specific to the human rights sector. From 2001 to 2005, Tim served as Communications Manager for GlobalGiving, where he helped launch, publicize, and populate an online marketplace for international philanthropy. He has also worked as a Farber Intern for REDF, a leader for Overland’s rocky mountain service and backpacking summer program, and a consultant for AES Sonel investigating rural electrification opportunities in Cameroon. Tim has BAs in English Lit and Poli Sci from Bucknell University and an MBA from Duke University, where he was a CASE Social Sector Scholar.

Valentina Raman

Valentina Raman is the US Empathy Partnerships Manager.

Alexandra Vesey

Alex Vesey is the Venture Associate for Ashoka US. She recently graduated Sarah Lawrence College with a double major in Creative Writing and Latin. At SLC, she founded her campus's Disability Alliance, which grew into a social and activist group for students with disabilities. Since graduation, she has worked at a variety of health and disability organizations, however, she is very excited to branch out and become a part of the broader citizenship sector with Ashoka. In her other life, she writes science fiction and fantasy stories and takes care of an elderly little dog.

Alexandra Vesey

Alex Vesey is the Venture Associate for Ashoka US. She recently graduated Sarah Lawrence College with a double major in Creative Writing and Latin. At SLC, she founded her campus's Disability Alliance, which grew into a social and activist group for students with disabilities. Since graduation, she has worked at a variety of health and disability organizations, however, she is very excited to branch out and become a part of the broader citizenship sector with Ashoka. In her other life, she writes science fiction and fantasy stories and takes care of an elderly little dog.

Alexandra Vesey

Alex Vesey is the Venture Associate for Ashoka US. She recently graduated Sarah Lawrence College with a double major in Creative Writing and Latin. At SLC, she founded her campus's Disability Alliance, which grew into a social and activist group for students with disabilities. Since graduation, she has worked at a variety of health and disability organizations, however, she is very excited to branch out and become a part of the broader citizenship sector with Ashoka. In her other life, she writes science fiction and fantasy stories and takes care of an elderly little dog.

Alex Vesey is the Venture Associate for Ashoka US. She recently graduated Sarah Lawrence College with a double major in Creative Writing and Latin. At SLC, she founded her campus's Disability Alliance, which grew into a social and activist group for students with disabilities. Since graduation, she has worked at a variety of health and disability organizations, however, she is very excited to branch out and become a part of the broader citizenship sector with Ashoka. In her other life, she writes science fiction and fantasy stories and takes care of an elderly little dog.

Tuyet Adamovich

Tuyet is the Finance Associate for Ashoka in the United States and she has been at Ashoka since February 2016. Prior to joining Ashoka, she worked as the Customer Services Associate for a medium scale construction company and volunteered to help low-income families and individuals prepare their income tax return. She currently holds a B.S. in Finance from the American University.

Tuyet Adamovich

Tuyet is the Finance Associate for Ashoka in the United States and she has been at Ashoka since February 2016. Prior to joining Ashoka, she worked as the Customer Services Associate for a medium scale construction company and volunteered to help low-income families and individuals prepare their income tax return. She currently holds a B.S. in Finance from the American University.

Tuyet Adamovich

Tuyet is the Finance Associate for Ashoka in the United States and she has been at Ashoka since February 2016. Prior to joining Ashoka, she worked as the Customer Services Associate for a medium scale construction company and volunteered to help low-income families and individuals prepare their income tax return. She currently holds a B.S. in Finance from the American University.

Tuyet is the Finance Associate for Ashoka in the United States and she has been at Ashoka since February 2016. Prior to joining Ashoka, she worked as the Customer Services Associate for a medium scale construction company and volunteered to help low-income families and individuals prepare their income tax return. She currently holds a B.S. in Finance from the American University.